Arthur Wing Pinero’s breathless farce THE CABINET MINISTER is given a new life in a brand-new adaptation by Nancy Carroll directed by Paul Foster.
Sir Julian Twombley is in trouble: his wife and son have run up massive debts and his political reputation is in the balance. The House of Commons is far from a safe space for him and the newspapers are sniffing blood. Can he save face and hang on to his sanity?
Joining Nancy Carroll are George Blagden, Joe Edgar, Phoebe Fildes, Rosalind Ford, Dom Hodson, Dillie Keane, Nicholas Rowe, Laurence Ubong Williams, Romaya Weaver, and Matthew Woodyatt. This crack cast tackles this sparkling story of marriage, blackmail and class where all bets are off!
This is a production that’s gleefully proud of its genre identity and the limitations that come with it. It’s such an excellent final product that we’re delighted to indulge its theatrical contract: the silliest, most unbelievable twist and all the visual contradictions contained in it are delivered with such exquisite sarcasm and cheerful panache that we don't mind a world where it’s possible to enter an empty room and not notice the two people who are just sitting very still in order not to be seen. It’s ridiculous, but Foster makes it work.
The satire here is, charitably, broad. Strip away the social hypocrisy, Pinero says, and the moneylenders and blackmailers are basically politicians without a parliament. A modern-day coda in this version doesn’t add anything cleverer. But you don’t turn to farce for nuanced or incisive commentary . What stops this production from being truly great, as funny as some of its lines and scenes are, is the lack of that singular and relentless escalation you find in the best of the genre. In spite of Carroll’s changes, there’s too much going on, too many trifling side-plots, in every way. It doesn’t build to that perfect pinnacle of comedic disaster.
West End |
West End |
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